Removal of trash in the open-end spinning of textile yarns

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to the removal of trash in the open-end spinning of textile yarns.

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(Zlayton Oct. 8, 1974 [54] REMOVAL OF TRASH IN THE OPEN-END {56] References Cited SPINNING 0F TEXTILE YARNS UNITED STATES PATENTS [75] Inventor: James William Barnes Clayton, 2,634,560 4/1953 Ramm 15/312 R X Arnside Near camforth England 3,471,890 10/1969 Ram0.... 15/301 3,628,213 12 1971 Ramo 15/301 x Asslgneei Platllmematwnal Llmlted, Oldham, 3,687,730 8/1972 Murphy et a1 15/31 RR x Lancashire, England 3,777,329 12/1973 Lane 1'5/301 [22] Filed: Sept 1972 Primary Examiner-Harvey C. Hornsby [21] Appl. N0.: 285,771 Assistant Examiner--C. K. Moore [30] Foreign Application Priority Data {57] ABSTRACT Sept. 3, 1971 Great Britain 41236/71 present l relates the removal of trash 1n the open-end spmnmg of textlle yarns.

[52] US. Cl. 15/301, 57/56 9 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures [51] Int. Cl A471 5/38 [58] Field of Search 15/301, 312 R; 57/34.5,

REMOVAL OF TRASH IN THE OPEN-END SPINNING OF TEXTILE YARNS In an open-end spinning machine hitherto proposed, textile roving is reduced to discrete fibres at each spinning station and the fibres produced fed direct to a spinning zone where they are spun into yarn. Trash, mostly in the form of knobbly lumps of fibres, is separated out at each station by beater rollers and rejected into a trash box provided at each station. Trash accumulates in the trash boxes and must be removed periodically.

According to the present invention, there is provided a trash purging apparatus for a multi-station open-end spinning machine comprising a trash chamber for each station, a common purging duct connectable to all the trash chambers to purge the trash chambers, a normally closed gate associated with each trash chamber and controlling the connection between the trash chamber and the purging duct, and an endless belt which, in use, moves to cause or allow each of the gates in turn to be moved from a closed position to an open position and then to a closed position to produce in succession an intermittent connection between each trash chamber and the purging duct thereby to purge the trash chambers in succession.

Preferably, each trash chamber has an aperture asso ciated therewith situated directly opposite an aperture in the purging duct, and the associated gate has a gate aperture and is movable between the closed position in which the gate aperture is out of register with the chamber aperture and the duct aperture, and the open position in which all three apertures are in register.

It is also preferred that movement of each gate between its opened and closed positions in one direction is caused by a cam profile formed on the belt.

In this arrangement, movement of each gate between its opened and closed positions in the opposite direction may be caused by a second cam profile formed on the endless belt.

The invention also includes within its scope a multistation open-end spinning machine including trash purging apparatus of any of the kinds referred to above.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial side elevation, partly in section, of a multi-station open-end spinning machine including trash purging apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section on the line 11-11 of FIG. 1.

The open-end spinning machine shown in FIG. 1 includes a long floor mounted, box-like frame (not shown) which houses 56 open-end spinning stations, two stations S1 and S2 being shown in FIG. 1. Each spinning station includes a cylindrical housing 2 containing a spinning rotor 3, a drive system 5 and a fibre supply duct 7. The fibre supply duct 7 leads from an opening roller 9 mounted in a casing 11 to one side of each station 51, S2. The casing 11 also encloses a pressure member 13 and a cooperating roller 15. A trash removal aperture 17 leads from the periphery of the opening roller 9 into a trash box 6. The box 6 of each station S1, S2 is connected to a common elongated sheet-metal purging duct 8 by a pipe which extends across the width of the machine. The purging duct 8 is connected to a vacuum pump via a filter chamber (not shown) which removes the trash. Each pipe 10 communicates with the purging duct through a gate assembly 12 controlled by an endless belt 14 which passes through the gate assemblies at all the stations. Adjacent gate assemblies 12 are about 200 mm apart.

The assembly 12, which is more clearly shown in FIG. 2, consists of a pipe block 16 which is connected by a bracket 18 to the frame and a duct block 20 which is bolted to the pipe block 16. The pipe 10 terminates in a pipe block aperture 22 in the block 16 and directly opposite there is provided, in the duct block 20, a duct block aperture 24 which communicates with the purging duct 8. Both blocks 16, 20 have registering shallow slots in their opposed faces, which together provide a rectangular cavity which serves as a slideway 26 for a gate element 28 which is made from a flat strip of synthetic plastics material and which is provided at its upper end with an aperture 30, equal in diameter to the duct and pipe apertures 22 and 24. The gate element 28 is drilled to receive as a loose fit a steel pin 31, the head 32 of which is arranged to ride up and down in a blind slot 34 in the pipe block 16. The gate element 28 is held in the position to which it has been moved by a spring loaded ball 36 which bears against it, thereby preventing the gate from falling out of the slideway.

The belt 14, which rides upright in a slot 38 cut in the duct block 20, is a fabric-faced, rubber belt about 4 mm thick and about 20 mm wide and is supported at its ends on two pulleys (not shown) one of which is driven at a speed which gives a cycle period for the belt of about 60 seconds. As shown in FIG. 1, the belt 14 has screwed to it, at two positions mm apart, a leading gate-operating block 40 and a trailing gateoperating block 42, both of which are made of a synthetic plastics material. The leading block 40 has a downwardly and rearwardly directed diagonal slot 44 inclined to the direction of the length of the belt 14 while the trailing block 42 has an upwardly and rearwardly directed diagonal slot 46 also so inclined. Both diagonal slots 44 and 46 act as inclined cam profiles for the shank 48 of the gate pin 31, which rides first in the slot 44 of the leading block 40 and then, as the belt advances, in the slot 46 of the trailing block 42, thereby imparting to the gate element 28 first a downward movement and then an upward movement. The blocks 40 and 42 both have chamfered leading edges to ensure smooth entry into the belt slot 38.

In use, fibers are opened by the opening roller 9 and fed to the open-fed spinning rotor 3 through the fiber supply duct 7. Trash from the fibers carried on the opening roller 9 fall through the trash removal aperture 17 and into the trash box 6.

The trash purging apparatus operates as follows. The vacuum pump is switched on to bring the duct 8 to subatmospheric pressure. All the gate elements 28 are I closed. The belt drive is started and the belt advances to bring the leading block 40 to engage the pin 48 of the first gate element, drawing the gate element downwards into an open position in which the gate aperture 30 registers with the pipe aperture 22 and the duct aperture 24. The trash chamber 6 is then in fiow connection with the duct 8 and the trash from the chamber 6 is sucked along the duct 8 to the filter chamber. The spring loaded ball 36 holds the gate 28 open for a short purge period before the oncoming trailing block 42 pushes the gate element 28 up, bringing the gate aperture again out of register with the duct and pipe apertures and into a closed position.

The blocks 40 and 42 are spaced close enough together to ensure that the first gate element is closed before the second opens. In this way the full pressure difference is applied to a single chamber.

In a double sides open-end spinning machine with 140 stations, the belt may be arranged to have two sets of gate operating blocks giving a cycle time of about 75 seconds.

In the embodiment of the invention hereinbefore specifically described with reference to the drawings, the trash purging apparatus has been applied to an openend spinning machine employing spinning rotors. It will however be appreciated that the apparatus according to this invention could equally well be employed in electrostatic and adhesive open-end spinning machines where a roving is treated by beater rollers for conversion into fibres for spinning into yarn and where trash is required to be removed from each of a plurality of spinning stations.

It will also be appreciated that only one cam surface may be provided on the belt which, in use, acts to move the gate 28 in one direction between the open position and the closed position. The other movement is then caused by spring means 49 acting on the gate to move the gate in the other direction.

I claim:

1. A trash purging apparatus for a multi-station openend spinning machine comprising:

a stationary trash chamber located adjacent each station for receiving trash continuously therefrom, an outlet to each stationary trash chamber,

a common purging duct connectable to all trash chambers to purge the trash chambers,

a plurality of inlets to said common purging duct each inlet registering with one of said outlets,

a gate element interposed between each of said inlets and the registering outlet having means defining a gate aperture,

a movable endless belt and gate control means associated with the endless belt, the gate control means being moved by the belt into engagement with the gate elements whereby each of the gate elements is caused, in turn, to move from a closed position in which the means defining a gate aperture is out of register with said inlet and said outlet, to prevent communication therebetween, to an open position in which the inlet, the outlet and the means defining a gate aperture are all in register, the gate element then returning to said closed position to produce, in succession, intermittent connection between each trash chamber and the purging duct thereby to purge the trash chambers.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each trash chamber has associated therewith a guide which engages the endless belt, the guides of all the trash chambers being aligned so that the endless belt travels in a straight run past the trash chambers.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the gate control means comprises a cam profile formed on the belt which engages with a portion of each gate to cause movement of each gate between its oened and closed positions in one direction.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the gate control means further comprises a second cam profile formed on the endless belt which engages with the end portion of each gate to cause movement of each gate between its opened and closed positions in the opposite direction.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the first mentioned cam profile and the second cam profile are spaced apart along the endless belt.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the said portion of each gate comprises a pin which is engaged by the first-mentioned cam profile and the second cam profile in succession to move the gate from the closed position to the open position and then move the gate back from the open position to the closed position.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the first mentioned cam profile and the second cam profile each comprise a slot whose ends are open and which is so shaped as to cause movement of the gate as the pin travels along the slot.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein each slot is inclined to the direction of the length of the belt.

9. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein spring means move each gate between the open and closed positions in the opposite direction. 

1. A trash purging apparatus for a multi-station open-end spinning machine comprising: a stationary trash chamber located adjacent each station for receiving trash continuously therefrom, an outlet to each stationary trash chamber, a common purging duct connectable to all trash chambers to purge the trash chambers, a plurality of inlets to said common purging duct each inlet registering with one of said outlets, a gate element interposed between each of said inlets and the registering outlet having means defining a gate aperture, a movable endless belt and gate control means associated with the endless belt, the gate control means being moved by the belt into engagement with the gate elements whereby each of the gate elements is caused, in turn, to move from a closed position in which the means defining a gate aperture is out of register with said inlet and said outlet, to prevent communication therebetween, to an open position in which the inlet, the outlet and the means defining a gate aperture are all in register, the gate element then returning to said closed position to produce, in succession, intermittent connection between each trash chamber and the purging duct thereby to purge the trash chambers.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each trash chamber has associated therewith a guide which engages the endless belt, the guides of all the trash chambers being aligned so that the endless belt travels in a straight run past the trash chambers.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the gate control means comprises a cam profile formed on the belt which engages with a portion of each gate to cause movement of each gate between its oened and closed positions in one direction.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the gate control means further comprises a second cam profile formed on the endless belt which engages with the end portion of each gate to cause movement of each gate between its opened and closed positions in the opposite direction.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the first mentioned cam profile and the second cam profile are spaced apart along the endless belt.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the said portion of each gate comprises a pin which is engaged by the first-mentioned cam profile and the second cam profile in succession to move the gate from the closed position to the open position and then move the gate back from the open position to the closed position.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the first mentioned cam profile and the second cam profile each comprise a slot whose ends are open and which is so shaped as to cause movement of the gate as the pin travels along the slot.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein each slot is inclined to the direction of the length of the belt.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein spring means move each gate between the open and closed positions in the opposite direction. 